"I can tell you that faculty and staff in that school did everything they possibly could to protect those children," Vance said. "I can tell you the first responders that got to that scene with the active shooter team that entered that school save many human lives.

"I can tell you It broke our hearts that we couldn’t save them all," he added.

As a nationwide debate about gun control gained momentum Monday, Vance said investigators are examining the guns used by shooter Adam Lanza carefully.

"Every single facet of the weapons will be analyzed. Every single round of ammunition will be looked at and examined for any kind of physical evidence," Vance said.